Remedy for Illegal Arrest

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

VI. Remedy for illegal arrest

A. Release from custody

If a person has been illegally arrested, the remedy is release, litigated through a petition for habeas corpus relief. If an illegally arrested defendant does not seek release or is unsuccessful in seeking release, and the defendant is subsequently found guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, there is no remedy for the fact that, at the time of the defendant's arrest, police lacked probable cause to arrest the defendant. Gerstein, 420 U.S. at 119 (1975) ("illegal arrest or detention does not void a subsequent conviction").

B. Suppression of physical evidence and confessions, even if otherwise lawfully obtained

1. At trial as "fruit of the poisonous tree"

If the defendant is illegally arrested and, as a result of the arrest, police obtain physical...